Don't Spread Bacteria in Your Kitchen

Food safety concerns center around food storage, food handling and proper cooking. How does your kitchen pass the "food safety test"?

• Is your refrigerator temperature 40 degrees or lower?
• Do you defrost frozen meat products in the refrigerator, rather than on the kitchen counter?
• Do you cook hamburgers to a temperature of 160 degrees?
• When finished serving cooked meats or meat containing dishes, do you refrigerate leftovers immediately after serving?
• Do you refrain from sampling raw cookie dough?
• Do you thoroughly wash your hands with hot soapy water after handling raw meat?
• Do you wash (with hot soapy water) and sanitize your cutting board after preparing raw meat products?
• Do you regularly clean (with hot soapy water) and sanitize kitchen surfaces?
• Have you sanitized your sink drain in the last week?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you pass the food safety test! If you didn’t, contact your local county extension office for information that could at the very least, spare you an unfortunate bout with food borne illness or even save your life.

Denise Sullivan, DSulliva@oznet.ksu.edu
County Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences
Leavenworth County, Kansas
Kansas State University Research and Extension